Life Through Green Eyes
by everlarkfourtrisromione
Summary: Finnick's point of view from his games until the end of Mockingjay :
1. Chapter 1

**Hi :) this is my first fanfic so I would appreciate any help and advice you can give me :D please review and I hope you enjoy it :D**

**Chapter 1**

5. This is it. 4. I'm in the Games. 3. I can't win. 2. I won't win. 1. Go.

1 week earlier…

As I dived into the shining blue sea I felt the world around me just disappear as I entered a world that was my own. Teal fish, yellow fish, red fish and every other colour of fish surrounded me and flitted around me as if they were welcoming me in to their world. As I had been swimming in these waters since I was about 4 years old, the fish almost treated me as one of them and once they had figured out who I was they would leave me alone to swim around and enjoy my slowly fading childhood. As I swam around I tried to forget about the fact that the reaping was this afternoon and although my name was only in there three times, a slip of paper with my name on it could still be picked from the giant clear bowl containing the names of every 12-18 year old boy in District 4. I pushed these thoughts to the back of my mind and tried to enjoy what could be my last few hours of freedom.

When it got to 1 o'clock in the afternoon I decided that it would be a good time to get out of the water and go home to make myself look presentable just in case I did get reaped. I forced myself to swim back to the shore, however I swam as slowly as I possibly could to try and increase my time in the water as it could be my last. When I'd eventually reached the shore I picked up my towel from the sand and wiped my face and body dry. Seeing as how everyone would be at home getting ready for the reaping I decided to walk back home in just my shorts because it was a very hot and dry day and, compared to the coolness of the water, the beach was boiling hot. I picked up my shirt, tossed it over my shoulder and then turned to face the sea as if to say goodbye to an old friend.

I walked through the streets distracted, my mind filled with thoughts of the reaping this afternoon. What would happen to my father and sister if I was reaped? No one would volunteer for me. I wouldn't let them.

"Ow!" I am roused from my thoughts by this sound and see a girl on the floor tangled up in a net.

"Woah, sorry I didn't mean to bump in to you." I help her untangle herself from the net and lift her up on to her feet. She looks up at me and has the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. They are dark green and when the light hits them at a certain angle they seem to shimmer.

"Sorry about that." I place my hand out, offering it to her as another way of saying sorry and also to introduce myself to her. "My name's Finnick. Finnick Odair."

"My name's Annie. Annie Cresta." As she says this she finally looks up as she has been staring at the ground ever since she got back up. "Don't worry about it. It's my fault; I wasn't looking where I was going."

"No, it was mine." I reply.

For a few seconds we just stand there looking at each other, then the ground then each other again. Whenever I look back up at her I see that she is silently looking me over. I'm used to this by now but it still makes me feel good about myself, the fact that people find me attractive when I think I'm the complete opposite. Finally she decides to break the stony silence.

"Well I'd better get back home; I need to give the net to my father. Maybe I'll see you at the reaping. Good luck with that by the way, how many times is your name in there?" She says with a hint of regret as she feels that this may be a touchy subject for me as she is too young to be reaped yet so she does not know the feeling that occurs deep within your stomach when you finally become of age and you're name is placed in to the glass bowl that will decide someone's fate.

"It's only in there four times so the odds are in my favour compared to some other kids." I reply, not showing her that I am worried about this afternoon, she doesn't need to be dealing with my worries about getting reaped.

"Oh well that's good then. Well I'll see you later then. Thanks by the way for helping with the net, you seem to know your way around them." She says with a ghost of a smile appearing on her lips as she turns to leave.

"Don't worry about it. I guess I'll see you later then." By the time I've said this she has already started walking away from me. For some reason I want to run after her and have an actual conversation with her. Wait, what am I saying? She's just a girl and she must only be like 11 or something, too young for me to be pining after her but for some reason I really can't wait until after the reaping so I can talk to her again and see those beautiful green eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I unlock the front door of the house and walk in announcing my arrival and dropping my shirt on the floor.

"Dad! Mariana! I'm home!"

"Finnick! What do you think you're playing at?! You need to get ready; the reaping is in half an hour!" My father says, trying to sound severe but I know that today is a day when he will go easy on me as it may well be my last day at home in District 4.

"Sorry Dad, I just needed to go for a swim and clear my head before this afternoon." I respond, deliberately skipping the bit where I bumped into Annie, the girl with the sparkling emerald eyes, as I know he would question me more about her and if Mariana found out then interrogation would never end. Although she was a year younger than me she acted like she was the elder sibling, always questioning me on where I was going and who I was going with. I suppose she felt the need to take over as lead woman in the house after my Mom died in a boating accident when I was just 9 years old. Since then Mariana has tried to make the loss of her seem less by doing what she would usually do, cooking, cleaning, polishing the tridents, making the nets, stuff like that.

"Alright Finn, just go put your clothes on make sure you're sister is getting ready as well. We can't have her making us late and having the whole District looking at us when you register."

"Okay Dad." I obey him and pick up my shirt and make my way upstairs to get ready for what could be the last time in our humble home in District 4. I find a simple pale blue shirt and black trousers laid out on my bed. Dad must have put them there for me. I can't imagine what he must be feeling today knowing that his only two children could be sent to their deaths today. I try to get this thought out of my head by thinking about the only good thing that has happened to me today – meeting Annie.

"Mariana! Hurry up! We're going to be late!" I told her that we needed to be on time to the reaping yet she still decided to spend an hour choosing which of Mom's dresses to wear to the reaping.

"I'm coming! Calm down Finn, we won't be late!" She says as she runs down the stairs carrying her black leather shoes, which again used to belong to my Mom, and attempting to tame her wild chocolate brown hair by tying it up in a messy ponytail.

"There. How do I look?" She asks, standing with her feet together, back straight and head held high. I can tell this is how she will stand on the stage if her name is called by Fitch Booth, the escort for District 4.

"You look beautiful darling. Just like your mother." My father says, trying to fight back the tears that are desperate to escape whenever my mother is mentioned, and are trying even harder to escape now that Mariana is dressed in my mother's sapphire blue knee-length dress that she wore to the reaping when she was 13 as well. It seems that Mariana wants to keep Mom alive in her heart during the reapings as last year she wore the same dress that my mother wore for her first reaping.

"Thanks Dad." She replies awkwardly as she knows that what she is wearing now can only make my father see his late wife and not his 13 year old daughter.

"You look great Mari. Are we ready to go now?" I say, trying to change the subject to make sure that my father does not start crying as if he starts then Mari will and then I will and we cannot go to the reaping with puffy eyes and red cheeks. It would be a sign of weakness if we were reaped and weakness cannot be shown.

"Yeah, let's go." She responds glumly as she knows that my father needs to be alone now. The three of us walk to the square, me and Mari walking together and Dad trailing behind us but we know that he needs time to collect his thoughts so we leave him to it and don't bother slowing down to wait for him.

When we reach the square we both register and take our places in the huge crowd of children. I say children because that's what we are. Children. Children who are waiting to see if it will be their name called and if they will be sent to their death or safe for another year. I find my friend, Daniel, among the crowd and start talking to him to pass the time. We talk about how I won the swimming competition but Dan was a close second which he still thinks is a fix because he is obviously a better swimmer than me as he is a year older so has been swimming for longer. I gradually tune out of the conversation and leave him to talk about his great athletic achievements, which he thinks I am very interested in, but at this moment in time I am just trying to find Mariana amongst the crowd of girls. Dan is my closest friend but I just can't concentrate on such trivial things as sports when my sister's name could be plucked from that reaping bowl. The odds are in her favour though because I never let her take any tesserae, we don't need it but if we did I would take it out not her, so her name is only in there twice. I finally find Mariana in the crowd of chattering girls and let out a sigh of relief. At least I can still see her through the whole reaping. I notice that she is talking to a girl and she has her hand on her shoulder as if to reassure her. It's Annie. Wait that means she is old enough to be reaped. This is her first reaping. I should have asked her if she was eligible for the reaping when she asked me how many times my name was in. Wait. What if she gets reaped? I doubt anyone would volunteer for her, I don't think she has many friends who would be willing to. I doubt any of my friends would be willing to volunteer for me. Well maybe Dan would just to show that he is better than me at something else.

"Finn! Are you even listening to me? Urgh I can't be bothered to talk to you if you're not going to talk to me. What are you even looking at? Oh, I see her now. HEY MARIANA!" He shouts across the crowd, making me come back to reality. I'm glad that she's seen me now and knows that I can see her. I'm also glad because Annie has noticed me. Mari waves at me and I see Annie doing a small awkward wave which is really cute. Wait, what am I doing?! Come on Finn, you've got to get this idea out of your head. Before I can wave back to them the annoying voice of Fitch Booth echoes around the square.

"Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favour!" He says in his artificial Capitol accent that makes my skin crawl. I don't understand how they can all speak with that annoying accent and not get fed up, I only have to hear it once a year and I hate it, I can't imagine having to hear it every day of my life. I realise that the film explaining the Dark Days and the Treaty of Treason has nearly finished so I start paying attention to the ceremony.

"This is how we remember our past. This is how we safeguard our future." President Snow's powerful voice falls silent and Fitch starts speaking again.

"Well wasn't that great! Now then, ladies first!" He scuttles over to the reaping bowl on the left side of the stage. This year he actually does look like a crab, his skin is dyed a pale red and his hair a few shades darker. His hair curves and points at the front, designed to look like a pair of pincers. He is wearing a dark red suit and high heels that look extremely difficult to walk in as they look like they are making his feet completely vertical which is probably the reason for his shuffling rather than walking. His fingernails have been sharpened so they are like claws. They dip into the reaping bowl and, as if it were filled with water instead of slips of paper, swirls his hand around and draws one out. I look over at Mariana and give her a reassuring look, hoping that Annie sees it as well. You can see that all of the girls are desperately hoping it won't be their name that is called. I'm just hoping it won't be Mariana's. Or Annie's.

"Coral Stone!" I breathe out, not realising that I had been holding my breath since Fitch had pulled the slip of paper out of the bowl. She's safe. They're both safe. But that means someone else isn't. I look at the stage and see a blonde haired girl who looks to be about 16 standing on it. She does not look fazed by this whole thing at all; she seems almost happy, almost proud that her name has been called. I know that the District 4 tributes usually join the Careers so are safe for a few days but this girl didn't have to look so happy about having to go in to the Games. I am analysing her for so long that I don't realise that Fitch has scuttled over to the other side of the stage and has plunged his hand in to the bowl and picked another slip of paper out. I am still staring at the girl when I hear: "And your male tribute this year is…Finnick Odair!"


End file.
